The invention relates to a package for a contact lens for application in an eye.
Normally, a contact lens is stored with a saline solution in a container closed by a lid which is torn off when the contact lens is to be used after which the saline solution and the contact lens are poured out into the user""s hand with the convex side of the contact lens facing upwards. The user can then make the wet contact lens adhere to a fingertip by a light touch and thereby use the finger for applying the contact lens.
When the user uses his hands as applicator in this way, it can hardly be avoided that the contact lens is contaminated by particulate matter and/or often bacteria-containing dirt which could irritate and damage the eye to a greater or smaller extent. To this should be added that the operation is difficult and troublesome to perform.
In order to avoid these disadvantages, applicators have been developed for holding the contact lens by means of e.g. tweezers and/or suction cups. However also in these cases, it has not been possible to ensure the contact lens sufficiently against contamination. Often, the contact lens must thus still first be poured out into one hand before the lens can be caught with the other hand by means of such an applicator which furthermore often is contaminated itself. Another problem is that the applicator is a separate aid which the user must carry around or otherwise have at hand to be able to apply a contact lens in this way.
The object of the invention is to provide a package of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph whereby a contact lens, without the use of separate aids, can be applied more easily and in a more clean and sterile manner than known so far.
The novel and unique features according to the invention, whereby this is achieved, is the fact that the package comprises a first part arranged to, when opening the package, function as an applicator with a concave surface formed mainly complementary to the convex side of the contact lens for carrying the contact lens during application; and a second part closely joined with the first part in the unopened condition of the package and together with this first part delimiting a chamber for storing the contact lens. This structure means that the contact lens easily and quickly can be applied in the clean and sterile condition in which it is already found to be in packaged condition as the contact lens can now be taken directly from the package to the eye without at first having to come into contact with the hands or separate aids that might contaminate the contact lens.
The relatively soft and flexible contact lens is best positioned and supported in the package when its second part is formed with a mainly complementary, in relation to the concave surface of the contact lens, convex surface that, in the unopened condition of the package, is placed opposite to the convex surface at a distance which at least corresponds to the thickness of the contact lens.
The use of the package is further facilitated when its two parts are joined with a sealing that is easily broken.
In an advantageous embodiment according to the invention, the first part of the package can be formed as a fingerstall for placing on a finger and which thereby can be used for applying the contact lens without touching it which, during this, is carried by the package on its concave surface which, for the purpose, is formed on the exterior of the bottom of the fingerstall.
In a second advantageous embodiment according to the invention, the first part of the package can consist of a relatively thin sheet with projecting tongues for holding on to when the part is used as applicator, and a projection secured on the sheet with the concave surface of the package for carrying the contact lens during application formed on the free terminal surface of the projection.
In a third advantageous embodiment according to the invention, the first part of the package can be formed as an elastomeric cup with a relatively flexible side wall and a relatively rigid bottom with the concave surface of the package for carrying the contact lens during application formed on the inside. At the same time, the second part of the package can consist of a sheet closely joined with the rim of the cup in the unopened condition of the package and having a pair of opposite tongues projecting from the package. Upon use, the part of the sheet that is covering the cup opening is removed after which the cup bottom with the contact lens is evaginated through the opening with one finger while the package is held by the projecting tongues with two other fingers. The package is now transformed into an effective applicator.
In the above third embodiment according to the invention, the sheet can advantageously be made up of a relatively rigid first foil closely joined with the cup rim and having a preshaped opening delimited by this rim, and a second foil closely joined with the first foil and at least covering its opening. The cup opening is then easily and quickly cleared by merely tearing the second foil off the first.
In a fourth advantageous embodiment according to the invention, the first part of the package can consist of a tube and a displaceable piston in the tube, the concave surface of the package then being formed on the terminal surface of the piston, and the second part of the package being closely joined with the tube in the unopened condition of the package. The second part can e.g. be a sheet of e.g. metal foil which, in use, is torn off the tube after which the piston with the contact lens can be pushed a distance out of the tube and used as an applicator.